Feaga 2017

The annual Feaga was held at Pozo Negro the end of April, and we went on the Saturday 22nd. This is said to be the largest agricultural show in the Canaries. We went quite early, as soon as it opened, as we had heard that the traffic could be horrendous getting in. Arriving just after it opened at about 9.45am, the roads were thankfully very quiet, with only a few cars ahead of us going in. There were already a few cars in the car park, but we still managed to park near to the main entrance, although it was then a fair walk up a slight hill. Expecting a lot of walking I went on my mobility scooter – that’s me in the first photo, with our friends Maggie and Ken.

It was nice getting there early as there were very few people about! However, inside the marquees quickly became packed and at times a struggle to move thought.

Inside were many stalls of local produce – goat’s cheese of course, fruit & veg and different types of chorizo! All had tastings, and there was some really lovely cheeses plus a few which were blah. One thing that disappointed and amazed me, was that very few of the stall holders were selling their products, but they didn’t have any leaflets either, or even identification of where their farm was! So I have no idea how the stall benefited them at all.

One stall did a short cookery demonstration. Their product was mashed sweet potato, but like you’ve never had before! It was so smooth and creamy! How they used it was amazing, I just wish I could have videoed it because now I can’t remember what she did, other that it was really tasty. As a friend and I say, it was “tasty, tasty, very very tasty”! For those of you old enough to remember Kelloggs Bran Flakes advert!

Then of course there were the animals. Mainly goats (no surprise there!) but also a few cattle from Tiscamanita and Tuineje. Somebody recently said to me there were no cows on Fuerteventura – well these photos are proof that there are! They even had a dog show there! Of course it wasn’t the sort of dog show that I’m used to! Sadly, we didn’t know what time that was on and we just missed it. We thought there might have been some horses, but if there were we never found them.

There was a demonstration of Juego del Palo, which is a traditional sport of stick fighting in the Canary Islands, literally translated as stick game. Then came the dancers. Unlike Andalucia with its flamboyant flamenco, the traditional music and dance of the Canary Islands is Spanish Folk music, which has come from the many different cultures that have been on the island throughout its history.

Whilst we made our way home late afternoon, the Feaga carried on into the evening with music and dancing, with many arriving for the evening festivities just as we were leaving!